Yeah, I picked it up - it's probably my favourite non-football sports game of all-time, and that's saying something given:
A) how truly horrible the microtransactions are (not just a ridiculous amount of things to "level up", but "levelling up" golf clubs is just a ridiculous mechanic),
B) how they can't seem to stop stupid scores online (the "Ranked Tours" idea is great, but even if you pick up XP for improving your performance, it's entirely demoralising to see the number of cheats who are better-than-birdie'ing every single hole),
C) there are still things missing compared to Links 2003 (e.g. an AI that has different strengths/weaknesses to their game and so the leaderboards feel genuine rather than random, plus the ability to add your own AI players, and to be paired with them during your tour rounds), and
D) the awful,
awful commentary
...because despite all of that, the gameplay is the best golf gameplay of all-time, in my opinion.
The slightly skewiff swing mechanic is a brilliant idea (so that instead of having a perfectly straight up/down motion, which becomes second nature, you have to match the pattern of your swing - and it's impacted by the angle of the ground you're hitting from).
The improved ball physics are far more realistic than before. There are still greens that make me go "how could it possibly roll out 30ft from a slightly overpowered approach/putt", and then I watch e.g. TPC at Sawgrass over the weekend just gone, and I go "yeah actually those greens are like frozen ponds".
Graphics are... not EA-level, but better, for sure.
Career Mode has gone FC-style, which can feel a bit too much (e.g. WhatsApping your agent), but it's better to have too much than not enough. Starting on the Korn Ferry Tour is a big deal for me, and adds real longevity (even though it's a shame that licensing prevents you playing on the real courses, even when they exist thanks to the community).
The LiDAR courses that the community make are better than ever, and it's the coolest thing to have such a big library of course add-ons (though I do worry 2K will shut this down one day - the course owners must surely be considering legal action at some point).
But above all, it's the gameplay. It just feels absolutely spot on. (Why it ships with "Perfect Swing" as the default difficulty though, when "Pro" is the online default difficulty, is mystifying to me.)
The gameplay is so far beyond EA's effort it's awe-inspiring - and I enjoyed EA's last attempt at a PGA game for a time, even defending it on here, but this makes you realise how unrealistically slow and easy-to-manipulate its swing was.
I adore it.
Hit me up if you fancy a game sometime, though I'm struggling for time to play at the moment! Not sure what my 2K username is, but I'm UK Jack Bauer on Xbox. I'd suggest starting an Evo-Web Club but we'd be the only two in it...
The best games I've had have been the 2v2 match play events... They are SUCH a laugh. They are amazing fun, especially when both teams clearly have one duffer and one "to the rescue" player.
